Valentino Rossi, multiple world champion, probably the greatest rider of all time, icon and court jester. Casey Stoner, devastatingly quick, consistent and Mick Doohan-esque in his attitude to racing.
Their rivalry has defined MotoGP in its past two seasons and will shape 2009, which begins under lights in Qatar this weekend.
After relinquishing the title he had owned for years, Rossi withheld the challenge from his new nemesis in Stoner to take back the crown in 2008 with a dominant display, scoring points in every race and taking sixteen podiums from eighteen races.
The rivalry with Stoner reached its zenith at Laguna Seca last season when the pair exchanged the lead several times in an epic duel, Stoner cracking in the end and Rossi going onto the title.
Despite setting the benchmark in off-season testing, with his Ducati team rediscovering the form that rocketed Stoner to the 2007 title, concerns over Stoner’s wrist injury and the sheer genius of Rossi negate the Aussies title favouritism.
There are few riders with the bike or ability to disrupt the duel between the Aussie and Italian.
Jorge Lorenzo, teammate to Rossi, has the natural talent, bike and, thanks to the sole tyre supplier rule, he is on the same rubber as Stoner and Rossi. But he needs to curtail his crashing ways in his sophomore season, and the same goes for compatriot Dani Pedrosa, whose feeble body has once again taken a battering following an off season testing crash.
Another Aussie will feature in the tight midfield battle, the underrated Chris Vermeulen, who looks to have the bike capable of challenging in not just the wet this season.
Hopefully the battles in the midfield along with the Rossi and Stoner duel will help spice up the racing, which has sadly been missing in the 800cc era.
Motorbike racing’s popularity is built on the assumption that it delivers exciting, edge of your seating racing.
It was this feature that differentiated the category from F1 and helped its rise in the post Doohan domination era.
But technology in the prototype class dictated by manufacturers has gone too far, dulling the racing to the point that MotoGP blindly followed the pattern set in F1, the category it mocked and promised to be the opposite of.
MotoGP cannot afford another season of dull racing.
The category was already struggling economically, long before the economic crisis that sent the factory Kawasaki team packing, as the sports rulers figure out how to save the category from ruin.
It has already been slow to eliminate electronic gizmos and other such impediments to great racing. Just this year has it adopted a sole tyre rule after much political wrangling.
Its opposition has already commenced its seasons’ with the formbook in Formula 1 turned upside down, while the other world motorbike championship, World Superbikes, for production bikes, is thriving with new manufacturers and exciting rookies.
So MotoGP is already on the back foot.
MotoGP has, however, Rossi, talented, personable and loved, the sportsman every sport wishes they had.
But paddock speculation continues to link Rossi with a possible move to World Superbikes, bored with the electronics and dull racing produced by the 800cc bikes.
His departure would be massive, significantly shifting the power of balance in the sport and may once again force a rethink of whether it is worth having two world championships, especially when the general public sees little difference between the two.
At present Rossi has his hands full fighting off the pesky young Aussie to keep him honest and interested.
The two need to produce more Laguna Seca-like battles to keep the punters interested.
Adrian Musolino
Expert
Greg, Yes the perception has been that MotoGP is the premier class and WSBK is like a second division obviously due to the prestige and history of Grand Prix and the better rider talent. But now that MotoGP is struggling financially with a small grid attention is turning to WSBK which is flourishing thanks to some smart decisions and the low cost of production racing relative to the prototype MotoGP. As a result manufacturers are pouring into WSBK, amazing in this economy, BMW and Aprilia joined this season while KTM is around the corner. With this support there is some real exciting talent in WSBK, talent which could not find its way into MotoGP due to the lack of competitive rides, see Ben Spies. Se we have this scenario in which the second division is a lot healthier than the premier class. One series makes sense. Being bikes the difference between production and prototype is not as clearly visible as it is with say Formula 1 and V8 Supercars so the general public doesn't get the difference between the two. The politics and different philosophies of the two series mean it is highly unlikely we will see one series unless MotoGP fails.
Greg Russell
Roar Guru
Adrian, I am not sure that you are correct when you write that "the general public sees little difference between the two [championships]." When it comes to motorbike racing (all forms of motorsport, in fact), I am just a run-of-the-mill sports fan. From my perspective the MotoGP has by far the higher profile, and SuperBikes is second rate. Maybe I am wrong, but remember that I live in a country (New Zealand) that has no vested interest (i.e., local rider) in either competition. One rarely sees any mention of SuperBikes results in the media over here, but MotoGP results will always make the fine print at least, and will sometimes be more prominent. That said, no argument from me that it would be better to have both competitions combined into one. Are the politics such that this is conceivable, as opposed to the USA (Indy Car Racing)/Rest-of-the-World (F1) split in single seater racing?
Kazama
Roar Guru
Yep, no race today unfortunately. Apparently it will be run tomorrow instead. If it ends up being cancelled, it would be the worst possible start in a crucial year for the series. I was reading about the new rookies rule and I thought why would they shoot themselves in the foot like that? Seems an absolutely daft ruling to me, especially considering that the global economic crisis means that satellite teams will get less money and therefore less development. From Ben Spies' perspective, he could either stay in Superbikes and challenge for the title, or head to Moto GP and spend a season or three battling to make the top 10 on a dodgy bike while the factory riders leave him for dead. Not really a tough call is it?
Adrian Musolino
Expert
I agree Kazama. Also World Superbike will greatly benefit from the proposal in MotoGP that rookies to the class aren't allowed to race for manufacturer teams, they must first race in a privateer team. So the likes of Ben Spies could stay in WSBK as an alternative to risking their career progression by being on uncompetitive machinery in MotoGP.
Adrian Musolino
Expert
Kazama we may not get a race. I'm hearing it is raining in Qatar and they won't race if it is wet, visibility will be too bad under lights. After the Malaysian F1 GP last weekend this is the last thing motorsport needed and it would be a disaster for MotoGP. Fingers crossed it is clears up for the race.
Kazama
Roar Guru
Sorry should be: "in the two races where BOTH Lorenzo and Pedrosa failed to line-up / finish" It's been a long day...
Kazama
Roar Guru
It'd be great for Moto GP if someone other than Rossi, Stoner or Lorenzo won tomorrow morning - only way that will happen is if all three of them crash or have serious problems with their bikes. I think you're right Adrian, it's the lack of competition for race wins outside the top teams and riders that is killing the series. Last year there were only four race winners - Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa - and most races were dominated by Rossi or Stoner from the early stages. Only those four and Hayden finished first or second, and while 10 riders made it onto the podium, just the top four - Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa and Lorenzo - did it more than twice, The top four shared the podium spots between them on nine occasions, and in the two races where Lorenzo and Pedrosa failed to line-up / finish, Rossi and Stoner finished 1st and 2nd. 5th placed Dovizioso only had 1 podium appearance all season, a 3rd in Malaysia! EPL-esq domination from the top four but largely without the entertainment to make up for it. 2007 Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa had a monopoly on victories, with Capirossi and Vermeulen winning 1 each, both in the wet. Again, when Stoner won it was normally by a large margin. I guess 2006 was a more open year, as eventual champion Hayden only won two races. Still, the wins were split between 5 riders (Hayden, Rossi, Melandri, Capirossi and Pedrosa) up to the last two events, which were won by Toni Elias and Troy Bayliss, making a cameo in place of the injured and soon to be retired Sete Gibernau. Thanks to the economy, the stronger teams will only improve while the weaker teams and the satellite teams will disappear further into the distance. Spare a thought for Melandri, who will get no development for his team during the season, meaning that he'll slide to the back of the pack as the year goes on. The former runner-up deserves better than that after his horror year with Ducati. Moto GP deserves better too. On a good bike (or at least a good bike he can control) Melandri could be another challenger for podiums at the least. Instead he gets to fart around for a year on a bike that has been left to rot by its manufacturer. It's depressing for Melandri and his fans, and for the series in general when good riders get saddled with crappy bikes. I'd say there'd be decent odds on him heading to Superbikes next season. As the Moto GP grid shrinks the Superbikes line-up will continue to grow in both size and quality. Given that we can forget about an open field this year, Moto GP needs a round-by-round slugfest between Rossi and Stoner to keep both the fans and Rossi interested. If Rossi jumps ship to Superbikes looking for more competitive racing, say good night to Moto GP.
Adrian Musolino
Expert
Kazama, many fans are looking to World Superbikes for their racing fix. In MotoGP at least the tyre war variable has been taken out of the equation but I don't see how the it will substantially improve the racing. The problem remains the electronics and the 800cc bikes not to mention the lack of depth of quality bikes on the grid. MotoGP needs a fundamental shakeup to get back on track. The duel between Stoner and Rossi should be great though. Only Lorenzo has the potential to run with them in Qatar.
megatron
Guest
Same. Rossi and Stoner will run away with it so hopefully the bikes are evenly matched. Electronics play such a big part that good riders who don't know how to run with it look bad.
Kazama
Roar Guru
I agree Adrian on all points. Based on testing this season is again surely going to be Stoner vs. Rossi III, and Rossi is the favourite considering Stoner's injury and the fact that Rossi is probably coming to an early end to his career in Moto GP and will want to win everything from here until he decides he's had enough. While I think both Pedrosa and Lorenzo are more than capable of winning races, I don't think either of them have the right mentality needed to win a title - not yet anyway. We saw plenty of evidence of this last season, with Lorenzo's many crashes and a few daft moments from Dani, like when he had that huge lead early in Germany I think and kept pushing too hard for no apparent reason, eventually losing control on the wet surface and crashing. I am hearing that Suzuki are going to be the big improvers this season; hopefully that will translate into Vermeulen getting a few more podiums and perhaps a win or two to go with his maiden victory in France 2 years ago (in the wet of course). This is a very important year for Moto GP. The last two seasons have been starved of action like we saw at Laguna Seca last year and Catalunya two years ago. Kawasaki's demise has shown that the class is vulnerable, while Superbikes looks much more secure and is continuing to serve up exciting races. Previously I hadn't paid much attention to Superbikes but since last year, bored with Moto GP, I have been watching its races more and more often. Hopefully this is the year Moto GP starts to turn things around, rather than the year that condemns it to an early grave - which is sadly how it is looking at the moment.